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Athlete Buys Groceries For Elderly Couple Who Are Afraid To Go Out Of Their Car Due To Coronavirus [Video]

Published

4 years ago

March 18, 2020

She Who Makes You Smile

Athlete Rebecca Mehra made a Twitter thread about her experience with an elderly couple who were afraid to get into the grocery store.
They waited for 45 minutes until she came and asked her to buy them groceries because they might get infected with the coronavirus if they go outside.
Her tweet went viral and it inspired city councilor Phillipe Cunningham to start a volunteer program for people in need like the elderly couple she helped.

After her regular workout last Wednesday, Rebecca Mehra headed to a nearby grocery store in Bend, Oregon.

While walking into the safeway, she heard a call from a woman in her car.

“I walked over and found an elderly woman and her husband,” Rebecca, 25, explained in a tweet. “She cracked her window open a bit more, and explained to me nearly in tears that they are afraid to go in the store.”

I went to the grocery store this afternoon. As I was walking in I heard a woman yell to me from her car. I walked over and found an elderly woman and her husband. She cracked her window open a bit more, and explained to me nearly in tears that they are afraid to go in the store.— Rebecca Mehra 🧀🏃🏽‍♀️ (@rebecca_mehra) March 12, 2020

They were afraid to get inside the store because of the novel coronavirus which is deadly especially when old people like them who are in their 80’s get infected. Neither do they have family members around to help them.

The elderly woman then asked Rebecca if she could get her some groceries.

“I said yes without kind-of thinking much, because I was in just such shock listening to how afraid she was,” Rebecca told TODAY on Monday. They handed her their cash and she walked in to buy the elderly couple the items on their list.

When she returned, they told her they were there for 45 minutes patiently waiting for someone to help.

Later on, she told her boyfriend about the story and he replied she should post it on Twitter and so she did.

“I know it’s a time of hysteria and nerves, but offer to help anyone you can,” Rebecca said in the thread she created. “Not everyone has people to turn to.”

Come Monday, her tweet was all over the internet. It was retweeted 107,000 times and she was even featured on cable news and some online outlets.

Her story inspired thousands of people from around the world. She told TODAY many of them contacted her from places like India, China, and all over Europe.

“I’ve been amazed by the response,” she said.

Phillipe Cunningham, a city councilor in Minneapolis, said they were moved to take action by her story.

Phillipe said, “it inspired me to start a volunteer program for community members to go grocery shopping and run errands for elderly neighbors.”

Rebecca is an elite runner who is training for Olympics trials and she was worried about how the crises might affect her health. But now she’s realized there are other members in the community who are greatly affected.